BBC:
The US state department has confirmed it offered millions of dollars to the captain of an Iranian oil tanker which is at the centre of a diplomatic row.
Brian Hook, head of the department’s Iran Action Group, emailed the captain of the Adrian Darya 1 about sailing it somewhere the US could seize it.
…
Reports of the cash offer first appeared in the Financial Times on Wednesday and have been confirmed by the state department.
„We have conducted extensive outreach to several ship captains as well as shipping companies,“ a spokeswoman told AFP news agency.
…
According to the Financial Times, Mr Hook sent an email to the Indian captain of the Adrian Darya 1, Akhilesh Kumar, before it imposed sanctions on the ship.
„I am writing with good news,“ the email read. The Trump administration was willing to pay the captain several million dollars to take the ship somewhere it could be seized by US authorities.
The emails reportedly carried a state department phone number to make sure the captain – who took over the ship after it was impounded – did not think they were fake.
